Posted by Matthew Barber on Wednesday, January 21st, 2015

Frontline Developments:

From a friend:

Souriatna is a rebel newspaper distributed in rebel territory. In a recent issue they printed a full page “je suis charlie” poster (viewable here, page 9: http://issuu.com/souriatna/docs/souriatna_173). Nusra found out about it and started knocking down doors to find the place that published it. They attacked the Radio Fresh station in Idlib where Hadi al-Abdallah, the guy from the Qussair battle, was working. They accused him of insulting Mohammad and beat him, then realised that they got the wrong guy and apologized. They then proceeded to raid a women’s center across from the radio station and beat the women there and insulted them for not wearing hijab. Then they realized again that they got the wrong people and apologized and left. Post from the newspaper about the events here http://www.souriatnapress.net/?p=8905# . Subsequent video purports to show Ahrar al-Sham burning Souritatna and three other magazines, saying they’re now banned for supporting Charlie Hebdo.

Mapping of the recent and continuing 3-way conflict between Kurdish YPG, Syrian regime, and IS in Hasakeh from Agathocle de Syracuse:

The clashes started on January 17; reports Loyalists attempted to set-up checkpoints near the industry area and in the north entrance following YPG reinforcement in the city. YPG initially seized industry & silos area as well as police station, capturing 30 Loyalists forces members. Heavy clashes followed in the city center, near Assyrian church and Pullman garage, Marsho round-about, and along the control line in Mufti and Azizieh neighborhoods. Mutual shelling forced people to flee from Tall Hajar, Mufti and Kashman areas. On Jan 19 in the morning, a cease-fire was agreed although sporadic clashes continued

…violence broke out when army soldiers and allied militiamen took control of buildings in an area that both sides had agreed would stay demilitarised, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said...

…Syrian Kurds, who say they suffered years of marginalisation under Assad, had on occasion fought with the president’s loyalists in territorial disputes, but never in sustained clashes…

…Ottawa: Canadian special forces exchanged gunfire with Islamic State fighters in Iraq in recent days, in the first confirmed ground battle between Western troops and IS, a senior officer said Monday.

“My troops had completed a planning session with senior Iraqi leaders several kilometers behind the front lines,” Canadian special forces commander Brigadier General Michael Rouleau said. “When they moved forward to confirm the planning at the front lines in order to visualize what they had discussed over a map, they came under immediate and effective mortar and machine gunfire.”

The general said the Canadians used sniper fire to “neutralize both threats” and there were no Canadian injuries… Canada has some 600 troops in the region participating in airstrikes against the Islamic State…

…UN reports published in December appear to vindicate the regime’s arguments that Israel is involved with the southern rebels.

According to a UN report covering the period from March to May 2014, the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) detected contact between rebels and the Israeli army across the Golan cease-fire line, particularly during fierce clashes between the Syrian army and the rebels. The report also confirmed that the UN forces spotted rebels transporting 89 wounded across the cease-fire line into the Israeli occupied zone, where they were handed over 19 people who had received medical treatment in addition to two dead. The UN forces also noted that the Israeli army delivered two boxes to rebels on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

Communications increased between rebels and the Israeli army before the eruption of the southern front in Daraa and Quneitra in September, according to Quneitra opposition activist…

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group has released a video threatening to kill two Japanese hostages unless they receive $200m in 72 hours, directly demanding the ransom from Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, during his visit to the Middle East…

…Defeating ISIS requires a new strategy for retaking Sunni territory. The strategy should incrementally build on the current hammer-and-anvil approach that has successfully blunted ISIS’ expansion into Kurdish and Shia areas. The conditions are ripest for a Sunni anvil in Nineveh and Anbar provinces in Iraq, so these areas should be the focus of a new plan with four components…

…In this sense, the question of whether ISIS enjoys much popular support in the Muslim world — it doesn’t — is almost beside the point. ISIS doesn’t need to be popular to be successful. In June, around 800 militants were able to defeat an Iraqi force of 30,000 in Mosul, the country’s second largest city. Ideology, morale, and, crucially, the willingness to die are force multipliers. But ideology can only take you so far without a conducive political environment. ISIS itself was perhaps inevitable, but its rise to prominence was not. It has benefited considerably from the manifest failures of Arab governance, of an outdated regional order, and of an international community that was unwilling to act as Syria descended into savage repression and civil war…

/I love this map, this is a great map/
Is it a new map?
Is the extremist group expand its ‘caliphate’, despite more than 800 airstrikes hitting Objectives in ISIS-controlled areas since last summer?
The map, created by the Coalition for a Democratic Syria (CDS), shows just how much land has fallen to ISIS – which now has a third of the country under its control.
Before the summer, the militants controlled just half that.
The following is the map that was created by the Coalition for a Democratic Syria. As you can see, ISIS is now much closer to Damascus than when U.S. airstrikes first began…
It is funny how the U.S. military keeps making “mistakes” by air-dropping weapons right into the hands of ISIS. The following is just one example of this phenomenon…
US have the most sophisticated military on the entire planet and yet America drop weapons into the hands of the enemy by mistake?
Obama adminstration is not even afraid to use al-Qaeda to achieve its twisted foreign policy goals.
So, Barack Obama actually trying to help ISIS take over Syria!

Most people realized from September 2014 that USA will not be able to stop Isis. No war can be won by sporadic bombing and since that is the only type of bombing available and doable Isis will continue to exist and survive. NATO refused to work with the syrian army for political reasons and is not about to commit troops on the ground and has not been able, or even willing, to neutralize Turkey, the main Isis supporter now, that leaves the region with few choices. Without a cease fire and the mobilization of local tribes and ordinary Syrians who are ready to consider fighting Isis this war can continue for years and its outcome will be uncertain. Isis and nusra are today in every Syrian province taking advantage of the multi prone military conflict which brought nusra and Israel to bed and allowed Turkey to continue its dirty anti Kurd and anti Syrian policy.
Talking to opposition parties that have little influence on militias is not likely to affect this war especially that the issue of a real political change is not on the table today after the West made containing Islamist terrorists as their primary focus. Another factor is the new situation in the USA where Obama’s second term is coming to an end at the same time when pro Israel politicians increased their grip on power in the congress. Israel wants confronting Iran to be a top priority and most GOP politicians are likely to follow because they see Israel as their only friend in the middle east and they accepted the principle that to get elected they have to listen to BB of Israel instead of their own president !!

The death of Saudi king is not likely to change anything in the middle east, keeping things the same in ksa is essential for the West and Israel. What is needed to move the region closer to peace is an agreement between Iran and the USA and that will not be easy with Obama being a lame duck president and the pro Israel lobby taking full control of the congress. Israel managed to neutralize egypt in 1977 and since then we have not seen any credible effort to end the Palestinian- Israeli conflict especially after the Islamic revolution in Iran which gave Israel another excuse to dodge the long overdue obligation to give Palestinians their legitimate political rights. Notice how the critical question of a Palestinian state was placed on the back burner and was replaced with a campaign to confront Iran as the new designated enemy , instead of Israel, then the so called Arab spring and now Islamist terrorism. I do not know for how long Israel can escape judgement day but for now Israelis can sit pretty and keep others busy beating multiple targets until there is no strength left to pay attention to the Zionist state.
يا أمة ضحكت من جهلها الامم

The Arabic version of what came out of the meeting in Cairo between members of the opposition. As known to most, rebels and islamists did not take part in the meeting, that led many to believe the meeting is not likely to reduce violence in Syria but may increase pressure on others to participate in future dialogue.
1- الهدف من العملية التفاوضية هو الانتقال إلى نظام ديمقراطي ودولة مدنية ذات سيادة، وأن الحل في سورية هو حتماً حل سياسي وطني.

These are coffee house resolutions followed by a good smoke and a backgammon game.

My foot could have come up with resolutions like this.

Sharia law is coming, it is a question of time. Houthi troops have a badge on their shoulder, death to America Death to Israel and damnation on the Jews and Glory to Islam.

Why for God’s sake are we spending money and treasure on a region that is trying to go back to the seventh century is beyond me.

Najaf is the only place on earth that will go to Haven. Azhar clerics declare Sissi the leader of the faithful, the King is dead and another moribund 79 year old sclerotic is appointed and first things first he appoints his son as defense minister.

“cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war”

Let them duke it out. I am praying for a major retaliation by HA and hopefully Iran directly on Israel.